Detroit apartment building turned into housing for homeless

An apartment building on the northwest side of Detroit re-opened on Thursday to provide housing to homeless people.

Cass Community Social Services spearheaded the project to renovate the Arthur Antisdel Apartments on Woodrow Wilson.

Executive Director Faith Fowler says the building attracted crime when it was vacant. She says it will now provide permanent housing for 41 people.

A renovated apartment complex in Detroit will provide housing to 41 homeless people.

Credit User Roymundo VII / Flickr

"It saves a building that was worth saving and puts it to good purpose." she said.

Tenants will pay 30% of their income to live in the apartments. Fowler says there's already a waitlist for people who want to move in. She says most of the people who moved in on Thursday were previously living in shelters or halfway houses.

Each apartment has a bathroom, bedroom, living room and kitchen. The building also has a computer room and a hair salon.

Fowler says the apartments are located near other services that her organization provides, like food and jobs.

"It adds to community, so that they can fit into a community that's being established, and help to be stakeholders in a community," she said.